#emanations

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

We’ve got to go back, Tommy! Back to the Voyager! Harry’s got the strange opportunity in “Non Sequitur” to stay in a parallel universe in which he’s not trapped in the Delta Quadrant fighting for his life every week, but he opts to correct the timeline and go back, allowing Tom to get his chance at redemption and getting his friend Danny Byrd into the correct life. Or maybe he just wanted to get away from Libby that badly.

Weird is part of the job As Chris wrote about in his Harry Kim fanfic, the ensign also has the unusual distinction of being the only character (other than baby Naomi) to technically be from a different timeline. When his Voyager is under attack by those damn Vidiians again in “Deadlock,” Kim saves the infant from imminent danger, and gets to have an identity crisis about it for the rest of his life.

There’s nothing to fear except clowns themselves Some-freaking-how, Ensign Kim is able to keep his [remote] cool throughout “The Thaw” while that psychotic clown is torturing him and trying to literally frighten him to death. Harry spends much of the episode standing up courageously against an exemplary performance from Michael McKean and his band of Cirque du Soleil performers until he’s finally rescued.

This man is my friend. Nobody touches him! We gave some great props to Paris for how much he worked with Kim to escape from the prison ship in “The Chute,” but the real hero of the episode is Kim. When Paris has been incapacitated by a nasty stab wound, Harry fends off tons of prisoners who are vying for Paris’s belongings, and he keeps his friend alive even while being driven mad by the clamp.

Go ahead, make the call Somehow, most of these moments have been “Harry stands up to the powerful figure of the week who has captured him,” and it’s no different in “The Killing Game” when he’s covertly working against his Hirogen guards without them noticing. Right in front of them, no less. Maybe we just like when quiet, unassuming Harry proves that he’s got that Voyager chutzpah.

Somebody has got to knuckle down and change history, and that somebody is you There’s something about brooding Harry in “Timeless.” Not only is it some great acting work from Garrett Wang, but we also get to see what happens when Harry pushes himself too far. Wracked by years of guilt, he finally seizes the opportunity to save the Voyager from a past mistake and break the Temporal Prime Directive – although no more than Janeway on a given Tuesday.

Hook, line, and sinker Much of Voyager is steeped in technobabble from all of the science-conscious characters, and occasionally we get to see Harry pull some scientific knowhow out of his ass. In “Dark Frontier,” the episode opens with Harry beaming a bomb onto a Borg vessel like a badass and blowing them to smithereens before they could even say “You will be assimilated.”

Infected with a disease called love We gave Janeway some flak for treating Harry like a little baby for getting busy with an alien in “The Disease,” but ya know what: we really liked him and Derran Tal together! The whole episode long, we’re led to surmise that something shady is going down with her and the Varro, but it turns out Harry is just willing to make a go of it with someone he fancies, and that’s nice.

When taken captive by a hostile force, seek out any opportunity to engage the assailant Kirk may be the king at talking machines into killing themselves, but Kim does it with such panache in “Warhead.” He’s so willing to empathize with and communicate with the homicidal warhead that I still contend this should have been a Chakotay episode. But since it’s Harry that does it, you’ve got to give him credit for convincing the missile not to kill its enemy after all.

How do you feel about going for a little walk? When Harry eludes capture by Borg in “Collective,” he uses some smarts and strategy to communicate with the Voyager from the Delta Flyer and devise a plan. Particularly cute is his use of playing cards to mark his trail through the labyrinthine Borg vessel. Sure, Mezoti finds him out and captures him, but that’s just because Mezoti is the best.

Own the day We’ll go on in the next section about some lousy relationships Kim finds himself in, but we’ve got to hand it to him: he and Lyndsay Ballard were super sweet together in “Ashes to Ashes.” Ballard is going through a pretty substantial identity crisis after returning from the dead (something Harry knows a lot about!) and Harry is there to be supportive without pressuring her.

Big Willy Energy We really couldn’t help but include this one. We also learn in “Ashes to Ashes” that Harry has moved on from the clarinet to the saxophone. Ya know, to emulate the vibes of a certain saxophone-playing president. We get a glimpse of him practicing in “Lineage” and we’ve got to admit: Harry Kim is just so cool. He should have gotten promoted for this alone!

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Worst moments

Didn’t they warn you about Ferengi at the Academy? It’d be too obvious to say that Harry Kim nearly got swindled by Quark during his very first scene in “Caretaker,” but the way he does it is the most Harry Kim moment of the whole show. Our sweet summer child, fresh from the Academy, first tries to avoid getting swindled but offends Quark in doing so, and basically swindles himself until Paris swoops in and rights the situation.

Something about it reminds me of being in the womb This is just an offhand remark from Harry, but it’s so strange that it’s sat with us all this time. Harry claims in “The Cloud” that he remembers being in the womb, and wearing his mask to bed at night reminds him of this. Not a womblike allegory, mind you. The literal memory of his existence pre-birth. You’re a weird guy, Harry. Good luck ever living this down.

This is my only chance to get home The leap of logic when Harry decides to get himself killed in “Emanations” and get resurrected right away on the Voyager is one only the most desperate man would take. There is so little reason for him to think this literally suicidal plan will work except that he’s got to hope for the best. In doing so, Harry becomes the first (but not the last) crewmember to die and come back.

I want to eliminate emotions, like Vulcans do So it’s not the worst moment for Harry to fall in love with a hologram in “Alter Ego.” Everyone else does it all the time. It’s that he’s managed to sink into the delusion so far that he determines to purge himself of emotions with Tuvok’s help. Overreact much, Harry? To him, Morena’s just a hologram girl, and he’s even more obsessed with her than Janeway is of Michael Sullivan!

I still say you should have kept some of those spots Even after the rest of the show unfolded, I’m left unsure what to make of “Favorite Son.” It’s yet another example of how Harry seems to have no clue what to do with himself when around pretty girls (more on that in a moment). The Taresians trick him so easily into joining their cultish society just by promising lots of sex with pretty ladies, and that’s all it takes. You poor naive thing.

Imagine having Tom for a father-in-law I’ve been outvoted by the other SSHB hosts who think it’s squicky for Harry from “Before and After” to marry Kes’s and Tom’s daughter Linnis (who seems like a catch!). I guess it can be considered some kind of uncomfortable grooming because he would have basically watched her grow up since she’s part Ocampan, but can we really put that on sweet, innocent Harry?

Then you wish to copulate? The other really hormonal behavior we get out of Harry is any time he’s in Seven’s company. In “Revulsion,” it’s downright uncomfortable to watch their interactions because he doesn’t know how to act around his crush, and then the writers have to sexually charge the B-plot by having Seven offer to bang him, merely to titillate the viewers and for no other good reason. Ugh.

They trusted me, and I killed them! While we do like Harry in “Timeless,” and the episode itself is a clever use of time travel, you’ve got to put some blame on Harry for causing the catastrophe he goes back to fix in the first place. And what’s worse, he does it again and still can’t save the Voyager from the slipstream accident even after years of trying to get the equation solved!

If we succeed, those charges will never have existed in the first place One more moment from the “Timeless” since it’s probably got the most Harry action in all of Voyager (and we just love his tortured-soul look). But frankly, sacrificing a whole timeline full of people going about their lives just to save your friends is selfish. And on this show, the only person who gets to do that is Janeway! Captain Braxton was right all along!

You’re looking at your new co-pilot Okay so this moment is mostly an excuse to show off the Delta Flyer uniforms from “Drive” that we love so much. But also, it’s another example of Harry being led around by his boner again! This man is so blinded whenever there’s a sexy lady in the room, and he jumps at the chance to join Irina’s race team even when it nearly gets him killed in a terrorist attack.

I believe you’re the one who’s been relieved Boy, does this episode do Harry dirty. If you were ever upset that Harry never gets promoted during the course of the show, “Nightingale” shows you why. This poor guy just doesn’t know how to lead. The moment he takes command of the Nightingale, he turns into a micromanaging asshole and the whole crew mutinies immediately. No wonder Kim is a Forever Ensign.

Maybe all those command subroutines are compromising your medical abilities Both Harry Kim and the Emergency Medical Hologram – excuse me, Emergency Command Hologram – are out of character throughout all of “Workforce.” The ECH is so desperate to show off his command skills and Harry is just as desperate to one-up him every time that their whole subplot becomes a dick-measuring contest that no one’s going to win. Ew.

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